Add a layer of potatoes, top with a sprinkling of cheese and half the onion, greenpepper, garlic mixture. Add another layer of potatoes another sprinkling of cheese and the remaining onion, green pepper mixture then pour the rest of the egg mixture over the top and cover with the remaining cheese.

The Spanish tortilla – frittata, is a meal of pure comfort food. Wildly popular in Spain, it is amazingly versatile, eaten for breakfast or wrapped in warm buttered bread for an afternoon sandwich. It may also be served as tapas (small bites) as we recently did for a dinner party.

The iconic Spanish tortilla apparently arrived on the scene shortly after Spanish explorers learned about potatoes from the Incas. The Incas learned about tortillas from the Aztecs and then the history gets all-weird and hotly debated with things like, should it have onion or not? Told you it was hotly.

Anyway, legend has it that a Basque general, Tomas de Zumalacarrequi, whipped up the first tortilla to feed his army at the siege of Bilbao, after the First Carlist War broke out with the death of King Ferdinand VI. And of course, as envy would have it, the king’s brother Don Carlos wanted the crown for himself. We’ll call him, His Royal Wanna Be.

As fate would have it, the former King had a rightful heir, a daughter, Isabella. Eventually push came to shove and three Carlist wars were fought over a forty-three year period finally ending badly for everyone.

On the bright side, it gave them time to perfect the tortilla. The recipe for this one fills a #8 Griswold cast-iron skillet to perfection with potatoes, onions, green pepper, garlic, ham, cheese, chives, eggs and rosemary.

It makes a wonderfully easy breakfast dish for guests; serve with fresh seasonal fruit and hot crispy croissants. Or for a light dinner, serve with a green side salad and a glass of good white Bordeaux wine.

Spanish Potato Frittata

Tortilla de Patatas

Prep 20:00

Cook 30:00

Serves 6

Stuff needed:

Sauté skillet

Cast iron skillet

Knife or cleaver

Garlic press

Large spoon

Cheese grater

Measuring cups and spoons

Whisk

Ingredients:

1 lb. gold potatoes, sliced thin

1 small red onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs. chives, chopped small

1 cup ham, diced

6 eggs

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

¼ cup milk

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. dried rosemary, ground

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Pinch cayenne

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400.

Heat the olive oil in the skillet and sauté the onion and green pepper until they just begin to caramelize.

Add the minced garlic and stir for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, rosemary, chives and ham together.